Re: More Bad News For Big Banks

Thanks, Adam. Will YOU team up with Stephen or John on biz / political dead-tree stories too? Head up there, have a deli lunch, knock down some shots, catch a Yankees game, then work out a strategy for sharing the work. (Don’t bring them to DC to catch the Nationals. That might scare ‘em away.)

And Republicans and these banks have the audacity to fight against reform?

…absolutely. If they thought Jesus was NOT a Real Christian™ and could make money doing so they’d fight Him too. (Don’t tell the R’s about His “liberal” principles such as giving to poor, healing the sick, and other such crap. I was being facetious but they might really do it.)

Deregulate and let the markets take care of it. Don’t worry, the banks will play fair and hire only honest people from now on.
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That seems to sum up the Republican talking points when it comes to finance reform.

“First of all, the investors who bought the securities lost about $50 billion on them.”
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were the buyers looking for a gain, and were THEY willing to RISK their money to achieve that gain as a reward….
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PULEEEEEEESE…they lost money by taking a risk, making a decision.
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.Caveat emptor, pronounced /ˌkæ.viː.ˈɑːt ˌɛmp.tɒr/, is Latin for “Let the buyer beware”.
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better yet…”if you can’t run with the big dogs, stay on the porch”

Word. Good job; you’ve stated the R’s platform more clearly than they do themselves.

Your slinger fipped, two cents…

Try to control that recreational anger when you type…

I wonder if that might spell the end of Paulson?

Even He went into the temple and busted things up.

I know that certain commenters just enjoy being contrary, but I don’t think anyone actually believes that willful misrepresentation of a contractual agreement shouldn’t be considered a crime. It’s pretty much the basis for our entire Capitalist system.

Now here’s convenient timing for the White House. All this does is allow the president and Dems to charge Republicans with sticking up for Wall Street fraudsters ( and they probably are) in the midst of unprecedented public rage at the very people who ruined the economy. Keep it up, and this might change the November landscape.

http://www.political-buzz.com/

“were the buyers looking for a gain, and were THEY willing to RISK their money to achieve that gain as a reward….”
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I guess they assumed that when GS said that thit was all good they thought 50 bill was a sound investment. You seems to think that if someone lies about the soundness it’s the investors fault for being suckers. I assume you’d feel the same ‘dumb me’ if I sold you a broken car if I advertised it as ‘in mint working condition’.
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Taking risks involve using the information you have and compare it to the relative long term risk of the ups and down market – not that the person selling you the goods just handed you a box of rocks.
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The irony is that you’re often here howling about the evil tax and spend socialists but find absolutely nothing wrong with a capitalist market killing robber baron mentality.

I’m sorry, are you able to get a hold of information about each of these mortgages, find out exactly what the credit score of each of the buyers, their annual income, their assets, the value of their mortgage, and the location of their home and then analyze every little piece of that information and then take a swing at what level of risk you actually think is associated with it?
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The information provided was false. It was totally false advertising – not misleading advertising, not glossing over the potential negative sides while highlighting the positive sides, just an actual, absolute lie about the source. It’s like a quarter back betting against his team in a game of football and then intentionally throwing 5 interceptions. It’s completely cheating the system and they deserve to be sued and sued a hell of a lot.

People are gaining confidence in the economy, too!
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/04/16/americans-more-optimistic-about-the-economy-says-poll/
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This could be a bad year for the GOP, taking the popular positions they’ve been taking…

You take a risk eating food from a restaurant. But if some one dilberately poisons you. Then tough luck for you.

hippoath: I’d say it’s worse than the car. It’s like saying it’s in mint condition after you took a sledgehammer to the engine and then welding the front hood shut and expecting the investor to pay for it – in a world where all hoods are welded shut at time of sale.

It sure is amazing – I’ve noticed this absolute irrational hatred of everything Obama also seems to destroy any capability for a perfectly rational argument. I read some really silly things when GWB’s administration made mince meat out of our constitution but that were from some people on the extreme fringe; for most part people could tell the difference between poor policy and irrational disgust of everything GWB.
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As far as I can see that doesn’t seem to be case with Obama; when people start arguing for armed uprising and for thiefs like GS simply because it’s contra to what one administration is trying to do, it tells you more about those peoples intellectual honesty than taking some kind of political opposite stand point.
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Being conservative doesn’t mean that you have to embrace stupidity.

..they lost money by taking a risk, making a decision.
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False.

The scandal here is not that Goldman was short the subprime market at the same time as marketing the Abacus deal. The scandal is that Goldman sold the contents of Abacus as being handpicked by managers at ACA when in fact it was handpicked by Paulson; and that it told ACA that Paulson had a long position in the deal when in fact he was entirely short.

http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2010/04/16/goldmans-abacus-lies/
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Information relevant to the decision-making process was misrepresented by goldman Sachs, creating a false impression in the minds of the buyers.

“I’d say it’s worse than the car. It’s like saying it’s in mint condition after you took a sledgehammer to the engine and then welding the front hood shut and expecting the investor to pay for it – in a world where all hoods are welded shut at time of sale.”
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Good point – but they made sure to have someone with big knockers sprawled all over the hood whispering – it’s alright, trust me.

Don’t forget to check in with Santelli and Co at CNBC. Some of the guys are turning into pretzels explaining the Goldman Sachs debacle. Look out for Maria Bartiromo: she has excuses for everything wrong on Wall Street.

OK OK OK,

you all make a good point, except 53_3 who is a non-contributing part of this conversation….
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to the extent that information was not reasonably available, the buyers are victims.
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to those who were looking for a “score” and disregarded prudent investing practices…tough crap.

Good point, foghorn.
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Meanwhile, all forty-one GOP Senators have now lined up to announce their support for the moneychangers on Wall Street.

That network has a split personality (website is better). I blame Larry Kudlow. Ever since he stumbled in, politics has corrupted coverage. Now Kneale and Santelli are among the worst. But when they stick to numbers and, well, biz stories, they often deliver. Reporters like Jane Wells, Mary Thompson, and Diana Olick do this. Maria cheerleads for everybody, ‘nuff said. But Becky Quick and Erin Burnett look more uncomfortable when they drift into politics. Then there’s Jim Cramer …there are no words. At least online I can avoid the faux politicians and just get the numbers.

Sorry – 1.1 should have replied to 2.2.
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It’s Friday, and I’m click-challenged.

They’re almost begging for a big, steaming helping of Jon Stewart.

Is Cramer going back to face Stewart again? That would be like the Black Knight continuing to challenge King Arthur.
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justmy02cents: I appreciate that you’re willing to admit when you’re wrong. Too few in your camp (at least as far as Swamp personalities go) are willing to do the same and it’s nice to talk with an honest conservative.

forgottenlord @ 4.9

What camp?????
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“I would not want to belong to any club that would have me as a member” – Groucho Marx
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thanks

The Conservative camp. My point is that some individuals like Freep will do everything in their power to avoid admitting they might possibly have been wrong. I’m not trying to imply you guys plan together, rather that you tend to be relatively like-minded in your thinking.